Apparatus for softening, refining, and cleaning entangled and shortfiber material



E. GMINDER APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING, REFINING, AND CLEANING ENTANGLED ANDSHORT FIBER MATERIAL Filed Feb. 23; 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jaye/8501,:Z'mc'l CZ/m'ndn."

' Jt'dmmay Oct23, 1928., 1,688,384

EGMINDER I I Arnm'rus -"fion SOFTENING, REFINING, AND cmmme sumac-nanAND snon'r FIBER MATERIAL Filed-Feb. 23, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet a PatentedOct. 23, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,688,384 PATENT OFFICE.

EHIII GMINDE R, F REUTLINGEN, GERMANY.

APPARATUS 1'03 SOI'IENING, BEFINING, AND CLEANING ENTANGLED AND SHORTFIBER MATERIAL.

Application fled February 88, 1826, Serial No. 96,165, and in GermanyFebruary 23, 18525.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for softening,refining and cleaning entangled and short fiber material, and moreparticularly in apparatus constructed in'the manner of a Chilean millcomprising a plurality of rotary and revolving rubbing members and meansdisposed between said rubbing members for turning or reversing thematerial. One of the objects of the improvelo ments is to provide meanslocated between successive rubbing members for displacing the fibersrelatively to each other and entangling the same, so that the materialis not supplied to the next roller in the form of a I hand but in anentangled state.

I have found that by means of my improved apparatus low grade fibermaterial such as the raw bast fiber of hemp, or other entangled andshort fiber material, may be treated in an economical way and within ashort period of time. For further reducing the cost of the manufactureautomatic means are provided for supplying the material to the apparatusand removing the same therefrom.

In the preferred construction the means for turning and displacing thematerial are in the form of rollers provided with teeth or needles androtatin in a direction 0 posite to that of the rub ing members. havefound that the teeth or needles of the said rollers begin the refiningoperation by being passed-into the fiber material and breaking up theparticles of wood. Therefore the separated impurities can be easilyremoved, for example by providing the trough of the apparatus with aforaminated bottom, so that the impurities fall through'the holes of thebottom. Further, the turning rollers may be conical in form, the part oflarger diameter of the cone bein located either near the center or thecircum erence of the trou h, or alternately near the center and near t ecircumference. By thus disposing the conical rollers in difi'erent waysthe material is thrown in radial direction outwardly or inwardly, oralternately outwardly and inwardly, so that the fiber material is in amost entangled state when exposed to the action of the next rubbingroller.

For the purpose of explaining the invention two examples embodying the.same have been shown in the accompanying drawings, in which the samereference characters have been used in all the views to indicatecorresponding parts. In said drawings,

Fig. l, IS aD elevation partly in section showing my lmproved apparatusin diagram matlc form.

E g. 2, is a top-plan view of the apparatus, B 1g. 3, 1s a detailsectional elevation showlng means for operating the turning rollers,Fig. 4, 1s a similar sectional elevation showmg the rakes and theoperating mechanism therefor,

Fig. 5, is a sectional elevation taken on the l ne 5-5 of Fig. 4 andlooking in the direct1on of the arrow, and F 1g. 6, is a diagrammaticalelevation showmg a modification.

Referring at first to the diagrammatical views shown in Figs. 1 and 2 myimproved apparatus comprises a circular trough 1 having a. foraminatedbottom 2, and a vertical rotary shaft 3 for driving the operatingmembers, the said operatin members conslsting of a pair of weighterubbing rollers 4 and 5, turning or reversing rollers 6 and 7 locatedbetween the same, and rakes 8 and 9. Below the bottom 2 there is arapidly rotatlng cylinder 10 carrying teeth 10' and adapted to take thematerial from an endless tape 11 and to throw the same into the trough,and to receive the refined fiber material from the said t-rou h and todeliver the same onto the said tape. referably, the tape consists of anendless band. The rubbing rollers 4, 5 are made from suitable heavymaterial, such as stone, iron and the like, and in the example shown inthe figures they are in the form of truncated cones having a smoothworking surface. But I wish it to be understood that. the surface of thecones may be formed with ribs or edges. They bear with their wholeweight on the material contained within the trough, for which purposethey are loosely connected with arms 18 secured to the shaft 3 forrocking in vertical direction. The turning or reversing rollers 6, 7 donot bear on the material, but their shafts 16 are fixed to the verticalshaft 3, as is shown in Fig. 3. In the example shown in the figures theturning or reversing rollers are likewise in the form of trun catedcones, and their axes 16 are dis osed at suitable angles to the axes ofthe ru bing rollers 4 and 5. Circumferentially the rollers 6 and 7 carrypins or teeth 6 and 7 and they are disposed below plates 12 formed attheir bottom ends with slots 19 providing guides for the teeth of therakes '8 and 9 and adapted to strip thefiber material therefrom. Theseplates 12 may be supported by the shaft 3. Above the cylinder '10 theforaminated bottom 2 is formed with an aperture 20 adapted to be closedby means of a slide 13. A guide plate 14 is disposed concentricallyaround the right hand upper part of the cylinder 10, and the endlesstape 11 is provided with a pressure roller 15,. The plate 14 and theroller 15 may be supported in any suitable manner, as for instance by abracket 90. In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown arrows indicating thedirection of the rota tion of the different members. The rollers 4, 5and 6, 7 rotate in opposite directions.

In the operation of the apparatus the slide 13 is retracted from thehole 20, and the shaft 3 and the cylinder 10 are made to rotate, thecylinder 10 rotating at comparatively high velocity. Thereby thematerial supplied by the tape 11 is thrown through the hole 20 and intothe annular container or trough 1, and it is taken up by the rakes 8, 9and distributed over the whole bottom 2, the said rakes having verticalreciprocating movement in addition to their circumferential movement asis indicated by the arrow w shown in Fig. 1. After the trough has beensufiiciently filled the slide 13 is closed, whereupon the fiber materialis treated by the rubbing rollers 4, 5 lifted and distributed by theturning or reversing rollers 6, 7 and supplied to the next succeedingroller in the direction of travel, the rollers 6, 7 being constructed sothat the fibers of the material are not only displaced relatively toeach other, but are also thrown to other parts of the bottom 2. The saiddisplacement of the fiber material as a whole is preferably assisted bycontinuing the operation of the rakes 8, 9.

r The circumferential velocity of the rollers I 6, 7 is equal to orlarger than that of the rollers 4, 5, so that the fiber material islifted by the turning rollers and distributed by the teeth thereof. Theimpurities made loose and disintegrated by the rollers are graduallyremoved through the foraminated bottom, this operation being assisted bythe operation of the rollers, 6, 7 and the rakes, 8, 9.

In Fig. 3 I have shown mechanism for driving the rollers 6 and 7. Asshown the roller 6 is loosely mounted on an arm 16 fixed to the rotaryshaft 3, and it has a bevel gear 63 secured thereto, which is in meshwith a bevel gear 64 keyed to a relatively fixed tubular member 30. Thesaid stationary tubular member 30 carries another bevel gear 89connected by a bevel gear 88 with the operating mechanism for the rakes8 and 9. This member 30 is a loose casing held in place by adjustingrings concentric with the shaft.

As shown in Fig. 4 the said rakes are guided with their teeth in holesof a plate made integral with an arm 81 fixed to the rotary shaft 3. Onbrackets 83 and 84 carried by the arm 81 a shaft 82 is mounted, whichcarries at one end the bevel gear 88 and at its opposite end a crank 85,the crank pin 21 engaging in a slot 22 of a slide 86 havingreciprocating movement-in guide ways 23 carried by the plate 80. Theslide 86 carries the rake 8 or 9.

By the rotation of the shaft 3 the arms 16 and 81 are carried along, andthe gear wheels 63 and 88 are rotated by engaging in the relativelyfixed gear wheels 64 and 89. Therotary movement of the shaft 82 impartsvertical reciprocating movement to the rakes 8 and 9.

According to the angular position of the rollers 6 and 7 relatively tothe axes of the rollers 4 and 5, and the position of the conical rollerson the arms 16, the fiber material is thrown toward the inner or outeredge of the trough. In some cases I dispose the rollers and thecircumference of thetrough, so that v the fiber material is thrown byone roller outwardly and by the next one inwardly. Thus the relativedisplacement and the softening, distributing and cleaning of the fibermaterial can be increased.

For discharging the material at the end of the operation from the troughthe slide 13 is retracted from the opening 20 while the shaft 3continues its operation. Further the cylinder 10 is slowly rotated andthe rakes 8, 9 are operated. Thereby the fiber material is moved towardsthe opening 20 and removed therefrom and deposited on.the tape 11 by thecylinder 10 in the form of a sliver, the pressure roller 15 taking thesaid, sliver from the cylinder 10.

Various other means may be employed for turning and entangling the fiberin lieu of the rollers 6 and 7. Further the distributing and looseningof the fiber material can be materially improved by providing rollersequipped with pins between successive rubbing rollers. In this case thematerial is not carried above the distributing members but between thesame, so that the said dis- Ion tributing members have the additionalfu'nc- I Figs. 1 and 2, and a pair of rollers 61 and 62 provided withteeth. The arrows P indicate the direction of the rotation of. therollers 4.- and 5. The pair of rollers'61 and'62 rethat it is always thesame distance awa y therefrom. The rollers are driven in suc volvestogether with the rollers4 and 5', so

a way that the fiber material passed between the same is moved towardsthe roller 5 and in the direction of the arrows P and P";

Preferably the rollers 61 and 62' are rotated revolutions, but therollers have different diameters. 1 The needles of both rollers passinto the fiber material and divide the same.

- Byv rotating the rollers-at different circumferential velocities thecarding action of the rollers is supplemented by a relative displacementof the fiber material.

In my improved apparatus the fiber material may be worked dry or wet.Further, fiber material, such as yarns, fabrics, etc, may be worked,provided the parts of said material are sufliciently short and small.

While in describing the invention refer ence has been made to twoparticular exam les embodying the same I wish it to be un erstood thatmy invention is'not limited to the constructions shown in the drawings,

and that various changes may be made 1n the general arrangement of theapparatus and the construction of' its. parts Without for, softening,refining and cleaning entangled and short fiber material,

comprising a container adapted to receive the fiber material, a rotary.heavy' body 4 adapted to be revolved in pressing contact J comprising acontainer-adapted to receive 2 the fiber material, airotaryiweig withthe fiber material, and means for turning and entanglingthe fibermaterial.

2. Apparatus for softening, refining and cleaning entangled and shortfiber'mater al, comprising a container adapted to receive the fibermaterial, a rotary weighted body ada ted to be revolved in pressingcontact wit .the fiber material, a roller provided circmnferentially,with teeth mounted for revolving over the fiber material, and means torotatethe saidroller in a. direction opposite to the rotation of. theweighted body.

3. Apparatus for softening, refining and cleaning entangledand' shortfiber material,

hted body adapted to be revolvedin'press ng contact the fiber material,means forturnin signature.

with the fiber material, a conical roller provided circumferentiallywith teeth mounted for revolving over the fiber material, and

means to rotate the said roller in a direction 4..Apparatus forsoftening, refining and cleaning entangled and short fiber material,comprising a container adapted to receive the fiber material, a rotaryweighted body adapted to be revolved in pressing contact with andentangling the fiber material, and a ra e revolving with said weightedbody and having vertical reciprocating movement.

5. Apparatus for softening, refining and cleaning entangled and shortfiber material, comprising a container having a foraminated bottom andadapted to receive the fiber material, a rotary weighted body adapted tobe revolved in pressing contact with the fiber material, and means forturningand entangling the fiber material.

,6. Apparatus for softening, refining and opposite to the rotation ofthe weighted body.

cleaning entangled and short fiber material,

comprising a container having a foraminated bottom and adapted toreceive the fiber material, said bottom being provided with a hole, arotary weighted body adapted to be revolved n. pressing contact with thefiber material, means for turning and entangling the fiber material,.-and a rotar' cylinder provided circumferentially with pins and disposedbelow said hole.

7 Apparatus for softening, refining and cleaning entangled and shortfiber material, compr sing a container having a foraminated bottom andadapted to receive the fiber ma-. terial, said bottom being hole, arotary weighted bo y adapted to be revolved in pressing contact with thefiber material, a rotary cylinder provided with pins adapted to berotated in the opposite direction to that of said body as the two movein succession .over said material, and means for delivering up throughsaid hole the material to be treated.

-8. An apparatus for softening, refining and cleaning entangled andshort fiber material, comprising an annular trough having a foraminousbottom, a rotary weighted rovided with a in said trough, but rotatablein opposite directions. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my GMINDER.

